Kids Tennis Game: Jail Breaker

How the game works

Young players line up behind the service line in a single file. The coach is on the other side of the net, having a bucket of balls ready.

The coach feeds a ball to the first player in line. This player will attempt to hit the ball (forehand or backhand) over the net and inside the lines. If she succeeds, she is “safe” and goes to the end of the line. But if she misses (hits the ball in the net or out), she will put her racquet by the net and run to the other side of the net (behind the coach), in “Jail”.

The only way for her to get out of Jail is to catch a ball that one of the players from the line hits over the net and in. She will have to catch it either in the air or after one bounce.

With younger players, they should attempt to catch the ball before it leaves the singles court.

The game continues until only one player is remaining to be fed a ball, and the other players are all in Jail.

If the last “safe” player hits the ball over the net and a player from Jail catches it, she is replaced by the player who caught the ball.

But if the safe player hits the ball over the net and none of the players in Jail catches it, she wins the game.

Note: Good game for kids to work on basic strokes and have fun doing it.

This is part of the Tennis Drills and Lesson Plans for Coaches program, with 900+ tennis drills that coaches need.